Wow, Tiffany, a “pho pun”, how original. I know, right? Have I devolved into dad jokes? Never, because I’m too hilarious for that. I just had to, because I’m finally publishing my 100% vegan pho recipe. Told you I’d never forget you. I took a really long hiatus, but I’m present, I promise. I even added a bunch of new albums in the gallery – granted half of them are from last year. It’s been a busy year, get off my back, y’all!! I’ll get around to my European photos by the end of this month…I hope.. Anyway, back to the pho: whether you’re a meat eater or not, it’s a scrumptious recipe, so you can take your reservations & judgment & shove it right up your hairy nose holes. Pho is pronounced “fuh?” not “foe”. Source: I’m Vietnamese. There’s a question mark to indicate that you’re supposed to raise your voice as if you’re asking a question. In Vietnamese, pho has two question marks on the “O”, so trust me & lower your inquisitive eyebrow. If you’re an avid meat eater & think the idea of pho being vegan is absurd, you better swipe left right on out of here. Vietnam is known as one of the least religious countries in the world as its main “religion” aka folklore/cultural beliefs is heavily influenced by Taoism, Confucianism, & Buddhism. Many Buddhists are vegetarian/vegan, thus the meat-free versions of Vietnamese cuisine is 1 trillion times better than any quinoa kale salad you’ve ever had. There are lots of great vegetarian restaurants in Vietnam, so open your minddDdddD.

One of the most physically annoying things about aging is not the wrinkles & fine lines visibly showing–get on those anti-aging serums, stay out of the sun, use sunblock, moisturize daily, get ahold of some Asian genes, etc–but that agonizing pain in the back of your mandible. You know the pain I’m talking about, right? That jerk wisdom tooth who’s popping up to say, “hey gurl, sup?” & your response is, “BYE FELICIA, DISAPPEAR.” That pain. Yeahhhh, so since I can only pop so many pills of Motrin before I destroy my liver & overdose, all my food choices have been solely categorized under, “can I feed this to a baby?” and “cannot feed to baby.” Thank goodness for my random craving for cháo (also known as congee or rice porridge) a few weeks ago because it’s so easy to make & I can eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Also, it falls under the, “10/10 can feed this to a baby.” I mean, it’s not exactly healthy to be exclusively eating it because rice is not going to fulfill the essential vitamin spectrum for a healthy body, but look, my mouth hurts to chew so I’m going to choose to slurp on rice porridge. That’s where the versatility comes into play though! Dressing up porridge with your favorite ingredients will help you get over the general boringness that is porridge.

The first time I had matzo ball soup was at my friend Ben’s apartment in LA circa 2011. Ben was beside himself, upset that his matzo balls weren’t fluffy & that his broth wasn’t flavorful enough. He advised me for help, but all I could really do was tell him how to make his broth tastier (hint: salt). He ladled some soup in a bowl for me to try, repeatedly saying, “imagine these matzo balls are light & fluffy, not dense & hard like these. I messed up, so, I’m sorry I’m ruining your first matzo ball experience.” Since I never had it until that first slurp, I politely asked for seconds because I thought it was like chicken noodle soup, but with balls of matzo meal. I didn’t know what it should’ve tasted like, but I thoroughly enjoyed Ben’s failed matzo ball soup.

Moving forward a few years later when I started dating Josh, we made the soup together for the first time & our matzo balls turned out perfectly. To be fair, we “cheated” by using Streit’s Matzo Ball mix so it was guaranteed to come out fluffy every time. Ben, a former pro matzo ball maker, was still struggling to make a batch of good matzo balls that weren’t hard as rocks. I tried to figure out the science behind it & even adventured to make the balls from scratch. I had a few moments of failure, but finally, last year, I–the Vietnamese girl who only had it for the first time 3 years prior–produced a recipe to make the perfect fluffy, yet dense matzo ball soup. My recipe is so good that the balls don’t obliterate into mush when they hit the nearly boiling water. These babies will stay together & they’ll be fluffy, just like your Jewish grandmother made them. I shared my recipe with Ben before publishing it here, to which he’s confirmed success. Furthermore, I’ve made this recipe 3 times with 100% success & the Jewish boyfriend approves.

When I packed my bags & left for Boston last September, I reassured my very concerned parents that I would be just fine in a place where you can tell the Earth clearly revolves around the sun (ie there are seasons unlike California’s 2: hot/not hot). I’m not saying I was wrong, I’m just saying record breaking storms (six, you guys, SIX, & more snow in two days) hitting New England is incredibly irritating. As I write this, winter storm Neptune is raging outside with hurricane-like conditions. Sounds way worse than Moaning Myrtle, I tell ya whut. It stopped snowing midday yesterday, but the harsh winds portray the illusion of snow being flung at your face at 30 MPH since it’s picking up snow from the rooftops of houses.

It’s not that I’m ill prepared for the blizzard, I just didn’t think I would ever need to invest in a Ninja mask to deal with windy chills in my face. I also underestimated the amount of snow walls I’d have to climb to get around. The rest of my body is pretty darn warm when I walk to school, but man, my face feels like….well, honestly I can’t tell you what my face feels like because I can’t feel it when it’s below freezing. However, if you’re in the New England area–no, not New York because they’re experiencing diddly squat–a great way to warm up & avoid cabin fever is making a hearty pot of delicious clam chowder. Not Manhattan clam chowder, real New England clam chowder. I’m only hating on NYC because I’m jealous though; let’s call a spade a spade.

Did you know that this year, January is National Hot Tea Month? Pretty spiffy, 2015, I like you already. I ended 2014 with a deliciously spicy, but totally not winter appropriate, noodle recipe & begun the year with a completely appropriate winter soup recipe. Since this month is extraordinary as it’s National Hot Tea Month, I thought what better way to combine the tail end of last year’s last recipe with this year’s first recipe? Well, what better way? I’ll tell you: put a bird on it! Couldn’t resist a Portlandia reference – let’s try this again: pour some tea on it! Using tea as soup broth is not some new invention, but it’s underrated & not trendy…yet. Depending on the quality of tea you’re using, green tea is packed with antixoxidants, light caffeine, & so darn healthy for you (lowers cholesterol!). Slurp it up with some noodles & you’ve got one great healthy meal recipe! No need to go on some strange Beyoncé lemonade detox! Drink more liquids (*cough* tea *cough*), eat fresh, seasonal whole foods, & avoid fast food! Boom, detox. & you thought shedding that holiday weight would be hard, pffffffpfpfpfpfpft. Now hit that “continue reading” button to get ahold of my new recipe celebrating National Hot Tea Month!